


Old Piano and A Promise

by queeniesye



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Angst, Drama, F/M, One Shot Collection, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:00:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23252098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queeniesye/pseuds/queeniesye
Summary: A brief visit to Midgar's Wall Market has led Tifa to an old piano, that will remind her of that promise she made with a certain someone at Nibelheim's water tower.
Relationships: Tifa Lockhart/Cloud Strife
Kudos: 24





	Old Piano and A Promise

**Author's Note:**

> This is the very first fanfiction I've ever written my entire life - an attempt to explore the relationship between Cloud, Tifa and Aerith.

In the slums of sector 6 Midgar, the Wall Market is a place of entertainment for Midgar slum dwellers – and even outsiders. It has all that one would expect from a common shopping centre, but perhaps at a better cost than others – a 10 gil per night inn, a diner with a menu consisting of only Korean BBQ, Sushi and ‘special plate’ a day, cheap boutique, pharmacy and bar, and of course, common shops like the materia and item stores. However, patrons of this place did not really come here for the common stuff, they are often around for what makes Wall Market unique. Its uniqueness lies on not just the Men’s Hall, a gym for beautiful wrestlers, but also the Honey Bee Inn, a members-only adult club. And further north of The Wall Market also lies another intriguing, yet dangerous part of the place – the former nest of Mafia lord Don Corneo. The man was responsible for the thriving economic circumstance of this place. And even with him gone, this place is still a hive of activities yet again, like any other day. And being covered underneath rusting steel plates means visitors of this place could hardly tell if it is night or day. This place operates 24/7.

Amid the usual hustle-bustle though, the place was receiving an unlikely visitor on that day. Midgar local passers-by who noticed her narrowed their eyes in surprise. They recognized her as the barmaid of Seventh Heaven, living with a blonde man with whom she ran a delivery service with, and two kids. It is not like she has never been here before. Although she is not native to Midgar, considering that she is originally from a village further west, Nibelheim, Midgar is already like a home to her. In fact, she used to live in the sector 7 slums, along with members of a rebel group, AVALANCHE, before Shinra destroyed it. She would sometimes visit the Wall Market to purchase a few items before her missions with the old AVALANCHE and the new AVALANCHE groups back in those days. However, ever since running the new Seventh Heaven bar and Strife Delivery service, she has stopped visiting this place.

There is another memory tied to this place that is keeping her away too. But it is the same memory that took her back to this place on that day.

It was almost the anniversary of… a dear friend’s death – Aerith’s death. The memory of her first meeting with Aerith was beckoning for her to return to this place. She remembered about it all. And then she would smile and giggle a little whenever she thought about how Aerith’s face would light up as she talked about what happened here before their first meeting. Aerith talked about everything – including about how Cloud, the blonde man – the woman’s childhood friend and the man she is living with now, went to great lengths to save her.

Soon, the woman found herself walking to the item store and her eyes followed a pair of men lifting a piano into the same destination. She heard their grunts and the slamming of the piano against the floor as they dropped it before making her entrance. Upon her entry, one of the men saw her and immediately had his lips curved into a smile.

“Oh hi Tifa! What can we do for you today?” he cheerfully inquired.

“Nothing in particular. I’m just around to see how things are going. Another junk?” Tifa, the woman retorted, referring to the piano.

“Hmmm yeah. You know, like any other in this store.”

That’s a waste. Tifa thought to herself. Her eyes soon began scanning the entire store and landed on to the broken machine built-into a portion of the walls. She got herself a pair of her best gloves from there before going into battle with Sephiroth in the Northern Cave. Surely, the piano would be of some use. Then she was reminded of the piano she used to have back in her room at Nibelheim.

“Well, if you need anything. Just hit us up,” the man finally said before making his leave with his companion.

It was not long before Tifa found herself already settled onto the piano bench, with her fingers on the piano keys. She began to recall the musical score she often play back in those days when she was living in Nibelheim. Her old master Zangan even left his final lesson note behind that musical score for her to learn. Almost instinctively, her hands began playing the tune out of memory. And now she found herself travelling back in time – to Nibelheim, to Mount Nibel, to her home… and to the water tower.

The water tower where they had their promise.

When she finished playing, Tifa sat still at her position, drowning in memories – one after another. It is always hard for her, and the others around this time. The sound of her phone ringing soon jolted her out of her senses. It was a call from Cloud. This would mean that he had finally finished his delivery service work for the day.

“Hello?” Cloud’s voice echoed from the other side before Tifa could even say a word.

“Yeah?”

“Where are you?”

Tifa hesitated for a while before answering, “The Wall Market.”

“What? What are you doing there?” Tifa could hear the bewilderment behind Cloud’s voice. And she smiled when she thought of the reason.

“Nothing. I just feel like coming here.”

Cloud was quiet for a while. “Ok… Just make sure you’ll be back before dinner, alright? Marlene and Denzel are excited to make us taste their cooking.”

Tifa smiled again. There was nothing more that she wanted than to see the kids’ smiling faces as of that time. But there was something else that she had to do.

“Yeah, I will. Hey Cloud…”

“Hmm?”

“There’s a piano in the item store. They just brought it in. Would it be alright if I take it home?”

Tifa received another silence from Cloud. Perhaps, he was having his own recollections too. Cloud knew that she can play the piano as he used to watch her from outside her room back when they were kids – something he told her while she was in his consciousness. Then, she finally heard him answer, “Yeah, sure.”

Tifa immediately went and requested for the piano to be delivered to Seventh Heaven. It would take a while before the piano would actually arrive at the bar but… at least her decision was worthwhile. As she made her way out of the Wall Market, Tifa turned around once again to study the place. This place had memories in them for her… all connected to the many other memories she had.

She silently thanked Aerith for reminding her about them all.

And she thanked Aerith again for reminding her that she was never alone. She always has a hero who made a promise to stay by her side. And that promise started from that water tower back in Nibelheim.


End file.
